Bessemer courthouse annex in midst of a $7.8 million interior renovation

Construction crews are in the midst of a $7.8 million interior renovation at the Bessemer Courthouse Annex, set for completion in December. ( Beverly Taylor / The Birmingham News )

The Bessemer Courthouse Annex, former home to the district and circuit courts in Bessemer, is undergoing a $7.8 million interior renovation.

Brice Building Co. in November started the renovation of the seven-story building, which is on 18th Street behind the Bessemer Courthouse proper.

The renovation is focused on the fifth and sixth floors of the building. Only three floors of the building are occupied. The first floor is the entrance, and the remaining lower floors are occupied by a parking deck. The fifth, sixth and seventh floors are used as court and administrative space.

Brice Building Co. project executive Dan Price said about 15 percent of the work at the annex has been completed so far.

Construction crews are doing demolition work on the fifth floor and some structural and mechanical work on the sixth floor, Price said. Bessemer division family court and its administrative offices remain open in the courthouse annex during the renovation.

The family courtroom and offices once housed on the fifth floor have been moved to the seventh floor because of the construction.

Jefferson County District Judge Jill Ganus said court proceedings are sometimes interrupted by the loud sounds of heavy construction, and the offices are sometimes covered in a fine white dust generated by the work, despite being moved to the seventh floor. But Ganus said she is looking forward to an updated, more open family court.

Once the 13-month construction project is complete, that family court division will occupy two floors. Jeff Smith, director of general services for Jefferson County, said the courtrooms for family court will be on the fifth floor, while administrative offices, youth services and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities program will be on the sixth floor.

The renovation will include updated mechanical systems, floors and walls. The balconies on the two floors, which are now inaccessible to building occupants, will be enclosed for added space.

Price said the renovation is expected to be completed by Dec. 9.

Smith said another phase of the courthouse renovation is being designed now and could be bid out by this summer. The county plans to renovate the courthouse annex seventh floor, which would become home to probate court in Bessemer.

The courthouse annex was once home to the Bessemer division district and circuit courts and the district attorney's office.

In June 2009, those courts and administrative offices moved out of the building and into the new $38 million Bessemer Justice Center.